System and method for tagging images in a social network

ABSTRACT

A method for tagging images in a social network is provided. The method may include enabling a capture of an image associated with an online group discussion. The method may further include allowing an automatic tagging of the image associated with the online group discussion, the image including a visual representation of a first participant of the online group discussion. The method may also include providing the first participant with an option to indicate whether to approve distribution of the tagged image. The method may also include receiving an indication from the first participant whether to approve the distribution of the tagged image. When the indication from the first participant whether to approve the distribution of the tagged image indicates approval of the distribution, the method may further include distributing the tagged image, based at least in part on the indication of approval of distribution of the tagged image.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to social networking systems and, moreparticularly, to a method of tagging images associated with a socialnetworking system.

BACKGROUND

A social network (e.g., FACEBOOK™, MYSPACE™, LINKEDIN™, TWITTER™,GOOGLE+™, etc.) may refer to an online system that provides a forum forgeographically separated users to interact with one another, where thoseusers have defined a relationship between one another. Users may controlwho can view their information by identifying particular relationshipswith other users, and can also find new users from the group of otherpeople who are “friends” of their own friends. Social networks may beaimed at different types of social interaction, such as friendship andbusiness networking. A user of a social network may have a profile page(e.g., a web page on the social network) that provides information aboutthe user to other users of the social network. A profile may includeinformation regarding a user's acquaintance relationships (e.g.,friends, colleagues, schoolmates, etc.) on the social network.

Some social networking websites provide real-time chat capabilities(e.g. live video chat such as that available through Google+) that mayenable two or more individuals to communicate in a live forum. In somecases, a user may want to take a screenshot of the participants of theforum. However, existing screencapture software may require the user tomanually tag any images associated with the screenshot.

SUMMARY OF DISCLOSURE

In one implementation, a method, in accordance with this disclosure, mayinclude enabling, using the one or more computing devices, a capture ofan image associated with an online group discussion, said online groupdiscussion including two or more participants. The method may furtherinclude allowing an automatic tagging, using the one or more computingdevices, of the image associated with the online group discussion, theimage including a visual representation of a first participant of thetwo or more participants of the online group discussion. The method mayalso include providing, using the one or more computing devices, thefirst participant with an option to indicate whether to approvedistribution of the tagged image. The method may also include receivingan indication from the first participant whether to approve thedistribution of the tagged image. When the indication from the firstparticipant whether to approve the distribution of the tagged imageindicates approval of the distribution, the method may further includedistributing the tagged image, based at least in part on the indicationof approval of distribution of the tagged image.

One or more of the following features may be included. The method mayinclude transmitting the tagged image to a computing device that is notassociated with the online group discussion. In some embodiments, thetagged image may be at least one of a screenshot and a video image. Themethod may further include storing the image in one or more memorydevices. In some embodiments, the tagged image may include a pluralityof images, each image corresponding to a visual representation of adifferent participant of the two or more participants of the onlinegroup discussion. In some embodiments, the tagged image may be taggedwith identification information corresponding to each participant of thetwo or more participants of the online group discussion.

In another implementation, a computer program product residing on acomputer readable storage medium having a plurality of instructionsstored thereon is provided. In some embodiments, the instructions, whichwhen executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform one or moreoperations. Some operations may include enabling, using the one or morecomputing devices, a capture of an image associated with an online groupdiscussion, said online group discussion including two or moreparticipants. Operations may further include allowing an automatictagging, using the one or more computing devices, of the imageassociated with the online group discussion, the image including avisual representation of a first participant of the two or moreparticipants of the online group discussion. Operations may also includeproviding, using the one or more computing devices, the firstparticipant with an option to indicate whether to approve distributionof the tagged image. Operations may also include receiving an indicationfrom the first participant whether to approve the distribution of thetagged image. When the indication from the first participant whether toapprove the distribution of the tagged image indicates approval of thedistribution, operations may further include distributing the taggedimage, based at least in part on the indication of approval ofdistribution of the tagged image.

One or more of the following features may be included. Operations mayinclude transmitting the tagged image to a computing device that is notassociated with the online group discussion. In some embodiments, thetagged image may be at least one of a screenshot and a video image.Operations may further include storing the image in one or more memorydevices. In some embodiments, the tagged image may include a pluralityof images, each image corresponding to a visual representation of adifferent participant of the two or more participants of the onlinegroup discussion. In some embodiments, the tagged image may be taggedwith identification information corresponding to each participant of thetwo or more participants of the online group discussion.

In another implementation, a computing system is provided. In someembodiments, the computing system may include one or more processorsconfigured to enable a capture of an image associated with an onlinegroup discussion, said online group discussion including two or moreparticipants. The one or more processors may be further configured toallow an automatic tagging of the image associated with the online groupdiscussion, the image including a visual representation of a firstparticipant of the two or more participants of the online groupdiscussion. The one or more processors may be further configured toprovide the first participant with an option to indicate whether toapprove distribution of the tagged image. The one or more processors maybe further configured to receive an indication from the firstparticipant whether to approve the distribution of the tagged image.When the indication from the first participant whether to approve thedistribution of the tagged image indicates approval of the distribution,the one or more processors may be further configured to distribute thetagged image, based at least in part on the indication of approval ofdistribution of the tagged image.

One or more of the following features may be included. The one or moreprocessors may be further configured to transmit the tagged image to acomputing device that is not associated with the online groupdiscussion. In some embodiments, the tagged image may be at least one ofa screenshot and a video image. The one or more processors may befurther configured to store the image in one or more memory devices. Thetagged image may include a plurality of images, each image correspondingto a visual representation of a different participant of the two or moreparticipants of the online group discussion. The tagged image may betagged with identification information corresponding to each participantof the two or more participants of the online group discussion.

In another implementation, a method, in accordance with this disclosure,may include enabling, using the one or more computing devices, a captureof an image associated with an online group discussion having aplurality of participants, the image including a plurality of visualrepresentations, each visual representation corresponding to one of theplurality of participants of the online group discussion. The method mayfurther include allowing an automatic tagging, using the one or morecomputing devices, of the image associated with the online groupdiscussion, wherein the automatic tagging includes tagging each of theplurality of visual representations. The method may also includeproviding, using the one or more computing devices, each of theplurality of participants of the online group discussion with an optionto approve or deny distribution of the tagged image.

The details of one or more implementations are set forth in theaccompanying drawings and the description below. Other features andadvantages will become apparent from the description, the drawings, andthe claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of a tagging process coupled to adistributed computing network in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a diagram depicting a social network in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the tagging process of FIG. 1 in accordancewith an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic view of a screen image rendered by the taggingprocess of FIG. 1 in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an additional tagging process in accordancewith an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic view of a screen image rendered by the taggingprocess of FIG. 1 in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure

Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments herein provide techniques for tagging images in a socialnetwork. Some social networking websites provide real-time chatcapabilities that may enable two or more individuals to communicate in alive forum. Occasionally during these chat sessions a user may wish totake a screenshot of the participants in the video chat, tag the otherusers in the screenshot, and share the screenshot with others.

For example, included within the some social networks is the ability toparticipate in synchronous communication sessions, which may includemultiuser video chat rooms (one example may include “Hangouts” inGoogle+). These synchronous communication sessions may allow for virtualgatherings of people to chat about specific topics. Embodiments hereinprovide an improvement to a “hangouts” type setting, which allows usersto take a screenshot of the participants in the chat. Some embodimentsincluded herein may also allow for the automatic tagging of the users inthe screenshot with their identification information, and then allow forthe sharing of the screenshot with others.

More specifically, embodiments included herein may provide a singlebutton or other mechanism(s) on the graphical user interface thatenables capturing, tagging, and sharing an image. Embodiments includedherein may also provide the participants shown in the screenshot withthe option of either allowing the screenshot to be shared and/or denyingothers from accessing the screenshot. In some embodiments, the image maybe a video instead of a static image such as a screenshot.

Example System:

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, the present disclosuremay be embodied as a method, system, or computer program product.Accordingly, the present disclosure may take the form of an entirelyhardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (includingfirmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodimentcombining software and hardware aspects that may all generally bereferred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore,the present disclosure may take the form of a computer program producton a computer-usable storage medium having computer-usable program codeembodied in the medium.

Any suitable computer usable or computer readable medium may beutilized. The computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be, forexample but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical,electromagnetic, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, orpropagation medium. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) ofthe computer-readable medium would include the following: an electricalconnection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, ahard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), anerasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), anoptical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), anoptical storage device, a transmission media such as those supportingthe Internet or an intranet, or a magnetic storage device. Note that thecomputer-usable or computer-readable medium could even be paper oranother suitable medium upon which the program is printed, as theprogram can be electronically captured, via, for instance, opticalscanning of the paper or other medium, then compiled, interpreted, orotherwise processed in a suitable manner, if necessary, and then storedin a computer memory. In the context of this document, a computer-usableor computer-readable medium may be any medium that can contain, store,communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or inconnection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Computer program code for carrying out operations of the presentdisclosure may be written in an object oriented programming languagesuch as Java, JavaScript, Python, Smalltalk, C++ or the like. However,the computer program code for carrying out operations of the presentdisclosure may also be written in conventional procedural programminglanguages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programminglanguages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer,partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partlyon the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely onthe remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remotecomputer may be connected to the user's computer through a local areanetwork (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may bemade to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using anInternet Service Provider).

The present disclosure is described below with reference to flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) andcomputer program products according to embodiments of the disclosure. Itwill be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/orblock diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computerprogram instructions. These computer program instructions may beprovided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purposecomputer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce amachine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor ofthe computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, createmeans for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchartand/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in acomputer-readable memory that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablememory produce an article of manufacture including instruction meanswhich implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide steps for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a tagging process 10 and serverapplication 20 that may each reside on and may be executed by computer12, which may be connected to network 14 (e.g., the Internet or a localarea network). Server application 20 may include some or all of theelements of tagging process 10 described herein. Examples of computer 12may include but are not limited to a single server computer, a series ofserver computers, a single personal computer, a series of personalcomputers, a mini computer, a mainframe computer, an electronic mailserver, a social network server, a text message server, a photo server,a multi-processor computer, one or more virtual machines running on acomputing cloud, and/or a distributed system. The various components ofcomputer 12 may execute one or more operating systems, examples of whichmay include but are not limited to: Microsoft Windows Server™; NovellNetware™; Redhat Linux™, Unix, or a custom operating system, forexample.

As will be discussed below in greater detail, tagging process 10 mayinclude enabling (302), using the one or more computing devices, acapture of an image associated with an online group discussion, saidonline group discussion including two or more participants. The methodmay further include allowing (304) an automatic tagging, using the oneor more computing devices, of the image associated with the online groupdiscussion, the image including a visual representation of a firstparticipant of the two or more participants of the online groupdiscussion. The method may also include providing (306), using the oneor more computing devices, the first participant with an option toindicate whether to approve distribution of the tagged image. The methodmay also include receiving an indication from the first participantwhether to approve the distribution of the tagged image. When theindication from the first participant whether to approve thedistribution of the tagged image indicates approval of the distribution,the method may further include distributing (308) the tagged image,based at least in part on the indication of approval of distribution ofthe tagged image.

The instruction sets and subroutines of tagging process 10, which may bestored on storage device 16 coupled to computer 12, may be executed byone or more processors (not shown) and one or more memory architectures(not shown) included within computer 12. Storage device 16 may includebut is not limited to: a hard disk drive; a flash drive, a tape drive;an optical drive; a RAID array; a random access memory (RAM); and aread-only memory (ROM).

Network 14 may be connected to one or more secondary networks (e.g.,network 18), examples of which may include but are not limited to: alocal area network; a wide area network; or an intranet, for example.

Tagging process 10 may be accessed via client applications 22, 24, 26,28. Examples of client applications 22, 24, 26, 28 may include but arenot limited to a standard web browser, a customized web browser, or acustom application that can display data to a user. The instruction setsand subroutines of client applications 22, 24, 26, 28, which may bestored on storage devices 30, 32, 34, 36 (respectively) coupled toclient electronic devices 38, 40, 42, 44 (respectively), may be executedby one or more processors (not shown) and one or more memoryarchitectures (not shown) incorporated into client electronic devices38, 40, 42, 44 (respectively).

Storage devices 30, 32, 34, 36 may include but are not limited to: harddisk drives; flash drives, tape drives; optical drives; RAID arrays;random access memories (RAM); and read-only memories (ROM). Examples ofclient electronic devices 38, 40, 42, 44 may include, but are notlimited to, personal computer 38, laptop computer 40, smart phone 42,notebook computer 44, a server (not shown), a data-enabled, cellulartelephone (not shown), and a dedicated network device (not shown).

One or more of client applications 22, 24, 26, 28 may be configured toeffectuate some or all of the functionality of tagging process 10.Accordingly, tagging process 10 may be a purely server-side application,a purely client-side application, or a hybrid server-side/client-sideapplication that is cooperatively executed by one or more of clientapplications 22, 24, 26, 28 and tagging process 10.

Users 46, 48, 50, 52 may access computer 12 and tagging process 10directly through network 14 or through secondary network 18. Further,computer 12 may be connected to network 14 through secondary network 18,as illustrated with phantom link line 54.

The various client electronic devices may be directly or indirectlycoupled to network 14 (or network 18). For example, personal computer 38is shown directly coupled to network 14 via a hardwired networkconnection. Further, notebook computer 44 is shown directly coupled tonetwork 18 via a hardwired network connection. Laptop computer 40 isshown wirelessly coupled to network 14 via wireless communicationchannel 56 established between laptop computer 40 and wireless accesspoint (i.e., WAP) 58, which is shown directly coupled to network 14. WAP58 may be, for example, an IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, Wi-Fi, and/orBluetooth device that is capable of establishing wireless communicationchannel 56 between laptop computer 40 and WAP 58. Smart phone 42 isshown wirelessly coupled to network 14 via wireless communicationchannel 60 established between smart phone 42 and cellularnetwork/bridge 62, which is shown directly coupled to network 14.

As is known in the art, all of the IEEE 802.11x specifications may useEthernet protocol and carrier sense multiple access with collisionavoidance (i.e., CSMA/CA) for path sharing. The various 802.11xspecifications may use phase-shift keying (i.e., PSK) modulation orcomplementary code keying (i.e., CCK) modulation, for example. As isknown in the art, Bluetooth is a telecommunications industryspecification that allows e.g., mobile phones, computers, and smartphones to be interconnected using a short-range wireless connection.

Client electronic devices 38, 40, 42, 44 may each execute an operatingsystem, examples of which may include but are not limited to Apple iOS™,Microsoft Windows™, Android™, Redhat Linux™, or a custom operatingsystem.

A number of users 46, 48, 50, and 52 of the client devices 38, 40, 42,44, respectively, may access the server device 12 to participate in asocial networking service. For example, the client devices 38, 40, 42,44 can execute web browser applications that can be used to access thesocial networking service. In another example, the client devices 38,40, 42, 44 may execute software applications that are specific to thesocial network (e.g., social networking “apps” running on smartphones).

The users 46, 48, 50, and 52 may participate in the social networkingservice provided by server device 12 by posting information, such astext comments (e.g., updates, announcements, replies), digital photos,videos, or other appropriate electronic information. In someimplementations, information can be posted on a user's behalf by systemsand/or services external to the social network or the server device 112.For example, the user 46 may post a review of a movie to a movie reviewwebsite, and with proper permissions that website may cross-post thereview to the social network on the user's 46 behalf. In anotherexample, a software application executing on a mobile device, withproper permissions, may use global positioning system (GPS) capabilitiesto determine the user's location and automatically update the socialnetwork with his location (e.g., “At Home”, “At Work”, etc.).

Example Social Network

Referring now to FIG. 2, a diagram of a social network 200 according toone embodiment of the present disclosure is provided. According to theembodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, the social network 200 is illustratedwith a graph comprising vertices 202, 204, 206, 208, 210, 212, and 214and edges 218, 220, 222, 224, 226, 228, 230, 232, 234, 236, 238, and240. The vertices 202, 204, 206, 208, 210, 212, and 214 may compriseprofiles A, B, C, D, E, F, and G respectively.

As used herein, the phrase “social network profile” may refer to amember profile of a member of the social network 200. According toanother embodiment, one or more of the vertices can represent acommunity. The methods and systems discussed below are equallyapplicable to an embodiment where the vertices may comprise one or morecommunities, but for purposes of illustration, the vertices depicted inFIG. 2 represent member profiles. The exemplary network 200 shown inFIG. 2 has seven members. Considerably more members can be part of thesocial network 200. A member may be an entity such as, for example, aperson, an organization, a business, a corporation, a community, afictitious person, or other suitable entity.

In some embodiments, each member profile may contain entries, and eachentry may comprise information associated with a profile. For example, aperson's member profile may contain: personal information, such asrelationship status, birth date, age, children, ethnicity, religion,political view, sense of humor, sexual orientation, fashion preferences,smoking habits, drinking habits, pets, hometown location, passions,sports, activities, favorite books or music, TV or movie preferences,and favorite cuisines; contact information, such as email addresses,location information, instant messenger name, telephone numbers, andaddress; professional information, such as job title, employer, andskills; educational information, such as schools attended and degreesobtained, and any other suitable information describing, identifying, orotherwise associated with a person. A particular business member profilemay, for example, contain a description of the business, and informationabout its market sector, customer base, location, suppliers, netprofits, net worth, number of employees, stock performance, contactinformation, and other types of suitable information associated with thebusiness.

A member profile may also contain rating information associated with themember. For example, the member can be rated or scored by other membersof the social network 200 in specific categories, such as humor,intelligence, fashion, trustworthiness, etc. A member's category ratingsmay be contained in the member's profile. In one embodiment of thesocial network, a member may have fans. Fans may be other members whohave indicated that they are “fans” of the member. Rating informationmay also include the number of fans of a member and identifiers of thefans. Rating information may also include the rate at which a memberaccumulated ratings or fans and how recently the member has been ratedor acquired fans.

A member profile may also contain social network activity dataassociated with the member. This membership information may includeinformation about a member's login patterns to the social network, suchas the frequency that the member logs in to the social network and themember's most recent login to the social network. Membership informationmay also include information about the rate and frequency that a memberprofile gains associations to other member profiles. In a social networkthat comprises advertising or sponsorship, a member profile may containconsumer information. Consumer information may include the frequency,patterns, types, or number of purchases the member makes, or informationabout which advertisers or sponsors the member has accessed, patronized,or used. Each member may be given the opportunity to opt out fromproviding any information that the member does not wish to share. Insome embodiments, member information will not be recorded and/orprovided to sponsors or others unless the member has specificallyopted-into such sharing.

A member profile may comprise data stored in memory. The profile, inaddition to comprising data about the member, may also comprise datarelating to others. For example, a member profile may contain anidentification of associations or virtual links with other memberprofiles. In one embodiment, a member's social network profile maycomprise a URL, which may be stored in association with another member'sprofile. In one such association, the other member's profile may containa reciprocal association (e.g. a hyperlink, URL, etc.) associated withthe first member's profile. A member's profile may also containinformation excerpted from another associated member's profile, such asa thumbnail image of the associated member, his or her age, maritalstatus, and location, as well as an indication of the number of memberswith which the associated member is associated. In one embodiment, amember's profile may comprise a list of other social network members'profiles with which the member wishes to be associated.

In some embodiments, an association may be designated manually orautomatically. For example, a member may designate associated membersmanually by selecting other profiles and indicating an association thatmay be recorded in the member's profile. According to one embodiment,associations may be established by an invitation and an acceptance ofthe invitation. For example, a first user may send an invitation to asecond user inviting the second user to form an association with thefirst user. The second user may then accept or reject the invitation.According to one embodiment, if the second user rejects the invitation,a one-way association may be formed between the first user and thesecond user. According to another embodiment, if the second user rejectsthe association, no association may be formed between the two users.Also, an association between two profiles may comprise an associationautomatically generated in response to a predetermined number of commonentries, aspects, or elements in the two members' profiles. In oneembodiment, a member profile may be associated with all of the othermember profiles comprising a predetermined number or percentage ofcommon entries, such as interests, hobbies, likes, dislikes, employersand/or habits. Associations designated manually by members of the socialnetwork, or associations designated automatically based on data input byone or more members of the social network, may be referred to as userestablished associations. In some embodiments, a user may form anassociation with a second user by adding them to a group (e.g. acircle). The second user may receive a notification that he or she hasbeen added to the first user's group (e.g. circle).

Associations between profiles within a social network can be of a singletype or can be multiple types and can include, for example, friendshipassociations, business associations, family associations, communityassociations, school associations, or any other suitable type of linkbetween profiles. Associations may further be weighted to represent thestrength of the association. For example, a friendship association canbe weighted more than a school association. Each type of association canhave various levels with different weights associated with each level.For example, a friendship association may be classified according towhich of a plurality of friendship association levels it belongs to. Inone embodiment, a friendship association may be assigned a level by themember from a list of levels comprising: a best friend, a good friend, aregular friend, an acquaintance, and a friend the member has not met.

Example Image Tagging Process:

As discussed above, one or more of users 46, 48, 50, 52 may accesscomputer 12 and tagging process 10 through network 14 or secondarynetwork 18. For example, and for illustrative purposes only, assume thatuser 46 (i.e., the user of personal computer 38) wishes to useintroduction facilitation process 10. User 46 may access tagging process10 through client application 22 associated with personal computer 38.In this way, tagging process 10 may operate as a standalone applicationor alternatively as an applet or plug-in operating within a separateprogram such as server application 20. In some embodiments, serverapplication 20 may include a social networking application such as, butnot limited to, GOOGLE+™, FACEBOOK™, MYSPACE™, LINKEDIN™, TWITTER™, etc.Although, this particular example focuses upon user 46 and personalcomputer 38 it should be noted that this disclosure is not meant to belimited to this particular example as laptop computer 40, smart phone42, notebook computer 44, etc., may also be used to access and/or rendersome or all of the embodiments of tagging process 10 described herein.

As such, and referring now to FIGS. 3-6, when user 46 accesses serverapplication 20 (e.g. GOOGLE+) via client application 22 display screen400 may be rendered at personal computer 38. Display screen 400 mayinclude one or more participant screens (e.g. 402, 404, 406, 408, 410)each of which may be configured to display a participant of an onlinevideo group discussion. For example, participant screen 402 may displayvideo of User A, participant screen 404 may display video of User B,participant screen 406 may display video of User C, participant screen408 may display video of User D, and participant screen 410 may displayvideo of User E. In some embodiments, the participants' screens may bedisplayed in the order in which they entered the online video groupdiscussion. Although, five participant screens are shown in thisparticular example it should be noted that any number may be displayedwithout departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

In some embodiments, each participant screen may have participantidentification information associated therewith. For example,participant screen 402 may have identification information 412 rendered,in this case identifying the participant as User A. Similarly,participant screens 404, 406, 408, and 410 may each includecorresponding identification information 414, 416, 418, and 420. Asshown in FIG. 4, the identification information may include at least oneof a participant's name and/or a link to a webpage associated with aparticipant (e.g., “Go to Profile”). Some or all of the identificationinformation may or may not be accessible to the various participants ofonline video group discussion as is discussed in further detailhereinbelow.

As discussed above and referring again to FIGS. 3-6, tagging process 10may include enabling (302), using the one or more computing devices, acapture of an image associated with an online group discussion, saidonline group discussion including two or more participants. Assume forthe purposes of this example, that user “User D” associated withparticipant screen 408 wishes to take a screenshot of display screen400. In this way, tagging process 10 may enable the capture of an imageassociated with the online group discussion by providingcapture-share-tag screenshot icon 422. For the purposes of this example,icon 422 may be a user-selectable button, however, it should be notedthat the capture-share-tag functionality described herein may beactivated using any suitable approach.

The term “screenshot” or “screen capture” as used herein, may refer toan image taken by a computing device to record the visible itemsdisplayed on the monitor, television, smartphone, or any visual outputdevice. In order to effectuate the screen capture, tagging process 10may utilize any suitable screen capture technique, such as those knownin the art.

In some embodiments, icon 422 may be hidden after selection and prior tothe screen capture. This may occur, for example, after one of the usershas selected capture-share-tag screenshot icon 422. Accordingly, icon422 may not appear in the screenshot. This feature may be enabled usingany suitable approach, for example, through a settings feature,drop-down menu, etc. Some operating systems (e.g. Mac OSX, MicrosoftWindows, iOS, Android, HP WebOS, X Window System, etc.) includescreenshot functionality, which may be used in accordance with taggingprocess 10. Additionally and/or alternatively, tagging process 10 mayutilize one or more third party screen capture software tools such asthose known in the art.

In some embodiments, the method may further include allowing (304) anautomatic tagging, using the one or more computing devices, of the imageassociated with the online group discussion, the image including avisual representation of a first participant of the two or moreparticipants of the online group discussion. For example, taggingprocess 10 may tag each image shown in each of participant screens 402,404, 406, 408, and 410 with the identity of the participant shown in theimage. In this way, the resultant screenshot may include the name “UserA” with participant screen 402, “User B” with participant screen 404,“User C” with participant screen 406, “User D” with participant screen408, and “User E” with participant screen 410.

Referring now to FIG. 6, in some embodiments, tagging process 10 mayprovide (306) one or more of the participants with an option to indicatewhether to approve distribution of the tagged image. FIG. 6 shows oneembodiment of a display screen 600, which may be provided in accordancewith the tagging process of the present disclosure. The option may beprovided in any number of ways. For example, and as shown in FIG. 6, ascreenshot sharing display 604 may be generated by tagging process 10and may be provided to one or more of the participants of the onlinegroup discussion.

In some embodiments, screenshot sharing display 604 may include adescription of the screenshot and the participant who is interested indistributing the screenshot. In this particular example, display 604 mayindicate that “User D would like to share this screenshot with others.Is this OK?”. Some or all of the remaining participants, e.g. Users A,B, C, and E may be provided with display 604. Accordingly, eachparticipant may authorize or decline to share the screenshot.Additionally and/or alternatively, each user may be provided with anoption to share the screenshot with a particular group or subgroup ofpeople (i.e., restrict access to a certain individual or group).

In some embodiments, tagging process 10 may receive an indication fromthe first participant whether to approve the distribution of the taggedimage. For example, if Users A, B, C, and E each select “Yes” withindisplay 604 an indication of approval may be provided, e.g., to acomputing device such as server computing device 12 depicted in FIG. 1.Alternatively, if one or more of Users A, B, C, and E select “No” withindisplay 604 an indication of denial may be provided.

In some embodiments, tagging process 10 may also include receiving anindication from the first participant whether to approve thedistribution of the tagged image. When the indication from the firstparticipant whether to approve the distribution of the tagged imageindicates approval of the distribution, tagging process 10 may furtherinclude distributing (308) the tagged image, based at least in part onthe indication of approval of distribution of the tagged image. Asdiscussed above, the distribution may occur after some or all of theparticipants approve the distribution. Distribution may includetransmitting the tagged image to a computing device that is notassociated with the online group discussion. For example, a User F whomay not be associated with the online group discussion may receive thetagged image or screenshot via one or more networks (e.g. networks 14,18, etc.). In some embodiments, the tagged image may be provided to asocial networking stream (e.g. GOOGLE+, FACEBOOK, etc.). Tagging process10 may further include storing the image or screenshot in one or morememory devices, e.g. storage device 16 coupled to computing device 12.

In some embodiments, the tagged image may take on any number of formsincluding, but not limited to, a screenshot and a video image. Thetagged image may include a plurality of images, each image correspondingto a visual representation of a different participant of the two or moreparticipants of the online group discussion. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 6,the tagged image may be tagged with identification informationcorresponding to each participant of the two or more participants of theonline group discussion.

In some embodiments, tagging process 10 may be used in a variety ofdifferent implementations. For example, tagging process 10 may beincluded as part of a social networking website, as a user interface ina chatroom, video chat, video conferencing, etc.

In some embodiments, a profile may refer to a representation of anindividual or a group of individuals on a member network (e.g. a GOOGLE+profile). A profile may generally include details such as a name, ahometown, interests, pictures, and other information characterizing anindividual or a group of individuals. A profile may be public if othernetwork members (or even the general public) do not require the consentof the represented individual or group in order to access the profile.In this way, it should be noted that any or all of the participants ofthe online video group discussion may, at their own choosing, opt out ofsharing access to their profile and/or identification information toother participants.

In some embodiments, the other participants (e.g., User B, User C, UserA, and User E) may be restricted from viewing and/or accessing theidentification information of User D unless authorized. For example, thehyperlink associated with each user's webpage may be disabled and/orenabled based upon an authorization of one or more of the participants.

Referring again to FIG. 5, one embodiment of a tagging process 500 isprovided. Tagging process 500 may include enabling (502), using the oneor more computing devices, a capture of an image associated with anonline group discussion having a plurality of participants. Assume forthe purposes of this example, that user “User D” associated withparticipant screen 408 wishes to take a screenshot of display screen400. In this way, tagging process 10 may enable the capture of an imageassociated with the online group discussion by providingcapture-share-tag screenshot icon 422. For the purposes of this example,icon 422 may be a user-selectable button, however, it should be notedthat the capture-share-tag functionality described herein may beactivated using any suitable approach. In some embodiments, the imagemay include a plurality of visual representations, each visualrepresentation corresponding to one of the plurality of participants ofthe online group discussion. For example, and as shown in FIG. 4, thevisual representation of each participant is shown in participantscreens 402, 404, 406, 408, and 410 with the identity of the participantshown in the image

Additionally and/or alternatively, tagging process 500 may furtherinclude allowing (504) an automatic tagging, using the one or morecomputing devices, of the image associated with the online groupdiscussion, wherein the automatic tagging includes tagging each of theplurality of visual representations. For example, tagging process 10 maytag each image shown in each of participant screens 402, 404, 406, 408,and 410 with the identity of the participant shown in the image. In thisway, the resultant screenshot may include the name “User A” withparticipant screen 402, “User B” with participant screen 404, “User C”with participant screen 406, “User D” with participant screen 408, and“User E” with participant screen 410.

Additionally and/or alternatively, tagging process 500 may furtherinclude providing (506), using the one or more computing devices, eachof the plurality of participants of the online group discussion with anoption to approve or deny distribution of the tagged image. In someembodiments, screenshot sharing display 604 may include a description ofthe screenshot and the participant who is interested in distributing thescreenshot. In this particular example, display 604 may indicate that“User D would like to share this screenshot with others. Is this OK?”.Some or all of the remaining participants, e.g. Users A, B, C, and E maybe provided with display 604. Accordingly, each participant mayauthorize or decline to share the screenshot. Additionally and/oralternatively, each user may be provided with an option to share thescreenshot with a particular group or subgroup of people (i.e., restrictaccess to a certain individual or group).

In some embodiments, tagging process 10 may receive an indication fromthe first participant whether to approve the distribution of the taggedimage. For example, if Users A, B, C, and E each select “Yes” withindisplay 604 an indication of approval may be provided, e.g., to acomputing device such as server computing device 12 depicted in FIG. 1.Alternatively, if one or more of Users A, B, C, and E select “No” withindisplay 604 an indication of denial may be provided.

In some embodiments, tagging process 10 may also include receiving anindication from the first participant whether to approve thedistribution of the tagged image. When the indication from the firstparticipant whether to approve the distribution of the tagged imageindicates approval of the distribution, tagging process 10 may furtherinclude distributing (308) the tagged image, based at least in part onthe indication of approval of distribution of the tagged image. Asdiscussed above, the distribution may occur after some or all of theparticipants approve the distribution. Distribution may includetransmitting the tagged image to a computing device that is notassociated with the online group discussion. For example, a User F whomay not be associated with the online group discussion may receive thetagged image or screenshot via one or more networks (e.g. networks 14,18, etc.). In some embodiments, the tagged image may be provided to asocial networking stream (e.g. GOOGLE+, FACEBOOK, etc.). Tagging process10 may further include storing the image or screenshot in one or morememory devices, e.g. storage device 16 coupled to computing device 12.

Additionally and/or alternatively, embodiments described herein mayallow for designating a circle/friend list/group/etc. to share thetagged image with. For example, one or more users may be present in anonline video conference and may wish to share the tagged image withcertain subgroups of their contacts. In this way, a user may select“friends” and “work friends”, and then the resulting tagged photo may beshared with the users present in both the user's “friends” and theuser's “work friends” circles. Numerous additional embodiments are alsowithin the scope of the present disclosure.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof code, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be notedthat, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in theblock may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, twoblocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantiallyconcurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverseorder, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be notedthat each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, andcombinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchartillustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-basedsystems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations ofspecial purpose hardware and computer instructions.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure.As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended toinclude any structure, material, or act for performing the function incombination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. Thedescription of the present disclosure has been presented for purposes ofillustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive orlimited to the disclosure in the form disclosed. Many modifications andvariations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure. Theembodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the disclosure and the practical application, and toenable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the disclosurefor various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

Having thus described the disclosure of the present application indetail and by reference to embodiments thereof, it will be apparent thatmodifications and variations are possible without departing from thescope of the disclosure defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method executing on one or more computingdevices, said method comprising: enabling, at a graphical user interfaceassociated with the one or more computing devices, a capture of an imageassociated with an online group discussion, said online group discussionincluding two or more participants, the graphical user interfaceconfigured to provide two or more real-time video displays, each of thetwo or more real time video displays corresponding to each of the two ormore participants at the graphical user interface; allowing an automatictagging, using the one or more computing devices, of the imageassociated with the online group discussion, the image including avisual representation of a first participant of the two or moreparticipants of the online group discussion, wherein the graphical userinterface provides a single user interface element that enablescapturing, tagging, and sharing the image; providing, at an interfaceassociated with the online group discussion, the first participant withan option to indicate whether to approve distribution of the taggedimage; receiving an indication from the first participant whether toapprove the distribution of the tagged image; and when the indicationfrom the first participant whether to approve the distribution of thetagged image indicates approval of the distribution, distributing thetagged image, based at least in part on the indication of approval ofdistribution of the tagged image.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: transmitting the tagged image to a computing device that isnot associated with the online group discussion.
 3. The method of claim1, wherein the tagged image is at least one of a screenshot and a videoimage.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: storing the imagein one or more memory devices.
 5. The method of claim 3, wherein thetagged image includes a plurality of images, each image corresponding toa visual representation of a different participant of the two or moreparticipants of the online group discussion.
 6. The method of claim 5,wherein the tagged image is tagged with identification informationcorresponding to each participant of the two or more participants of theonline group discussion.
 7. A computer program product comprising anon-transitory computer readable storage medium having a plurality ofinstructions stored thereon, which when executed by a processor, causethe processor to perform operations comprising: enabling, at a graphicaluser interface associated with the one or more computing devices, acapture of an image associated with an online group discussion, saidonline group discussion including two or more participants, thegraphical user interface configured to provide two or more real-timevideo displays, each of the two or more real time video displayscorresponding to each of the two or more participants at the graphicaluser interface; allowing an automatic tagging, using the one or morecomputing devices, of the image associated with the online groupdiscussion, the image including a visual representation of a firstparticipant of the two or more participants of the online groupdiscussion, wherein the graphical user interface provides a single userinterface element that enables capturing, tagging, and sharing theimage; providing, at an interface associated with the online groupdiscussion, the first participant with an option to indicate whether toapprove distribution of the tagged image; receiving an indication fromthe first participant whether to approve the distribution of the taggedimage; and when the indication from the first participant whether toapprove the distribution of the tagged image indicates approval of thedistribution, distributing the tagged image, based at least in part onthe indication of approval of distribution of the tagged image.
 8. Thecomputer program product of claim 7, further comprising: transmittingthe tagged image to a computing device that is not associated with theonline group discussion.
 9. The computer program product of claim 7,wherein the tagged image is at least one of a screenshot and a videoimage.
 10. The computer program product of claim 7, further comprising:storing the image in one or more memory devices.
 11. The computerprogram product of claim 9, wherein the tagged image includes aplurality of images, each image corresponding to a visual representationof a different participant of the two or more participants of the onlinegroup discussion.
 12. The computer program product of claim 11, whereinthe tagged image is tagged with identification information correspondingto each participant of the two or more participants of the online groupdiscussion.
 13. A computing system comprising: one or more processorsconfigured to enable a capture of an image associated with an onlinegroup discussion, said online group discussion including two or moreparticipants, the graphical user interface configured to provide two ormore real-time video displays, each of the two or more real time videodisplays corresponding to each of the two or more participants at thegraphical user interface, the one or more processors being furtherconfigured to allow an automatic tagging of the image associated withthe online group discussion, the image including a visual representationof a first participant of the two or more participants of the onlinegroup discussion, wherein the graphical user interface provides a singleuser interface element that enables capturing, tagging, and sharing theimage, the one or more processors further configured to provide, at aninterface associated with the online group discussion, the firstparticipant with an option to indicate whether to approve distributionof the tagged image, the one or more processors further configured toreceive an indication from the first participant whether to approve thedistribution of the tagged image; when the indication from the firstparticipant whether to approve the distribution of the tagged imageindicates approval of the distribution, the one or more processors beingfurther configured to distribute the tagged image, based at least inpart on the indication of approval of distribution of the tagged image.14. The computing system of claim 13 wherein the one or more processorsare further configured to transmit the tagged image to a computingdevice that is not associated with the online group discussion.
 15. Thecomputing system of claim 13 wherein the tagged image is at least one ofa screenshot and a video image.
 16. The computing system of claim 13wherein the one or more processors are further configured to store theimage in one or more memory devices.
 17. The computing system of claim15 wherein the tagged image includes a plurality of images, each imagecorresponding to a visual representation of a different participant ofthe two or more participants of the online group discussion.
 18. Thecomputing system of claim 17 wherein the tagged image is tagged withidentification information corresponding to each participant of the twoor more participants of the online group discussion.
 19. A methodexecuting on one or more computing devices, said method comprising:enabling, using the one or more computing devices, a capture of an imageassociated with an online group discussion having a plurality ofparticipants, the image including a plurality of visual representations,each visual representation corresponding to one of the plurality ofparticipants of the online group discussion, wherein the graphical userinterface is configured to provide two more real-time video displays,each of the two or more real time video displays corresponding to eachof the two or more participants at the graphical user interface;allowing an automatic tagging, using the one or more computing devices,of the image associated with the online group discussion, wherein theautomatic tagging includes tagging each of the plurality of visualrepresentations, wherein the graphical user interface provides a singleuser interface element that enables capturing, tagging, and sharing theimage; and providing, at an interface associated with the online groupdiscussion, each of the plurality of participants of the online groupdiscussion with an option to approve or deny distribution of the taggedimage.
 20. The method of claim 19, further comprising: transmitting thetagged image to a computing device that is not associated with theonline group discussion.
 21. The method of claim 19, wherein the taggedimage is at least one of a screenshot and a video image.
 22. The methodof claim 19, further comprising: storing the image in one or more memorydevices.